Mexican Drone Crashes In El Paso

Tuesday night, El Paso experienced yet another illegal border crossing. This one was special. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the backyard of an El Paso resident. The house was almost half a mile north of the border.

I’m amazed that I didn’t hear about this till this morning … seeing as I live here. By the time the information was released, the UAV had already been returned to Mexican authorities. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) had not been allowed to examine it.

Now there can be several reasons why the UAV was on the wrong side of the border. A controller may have inadvertently flown over, the GPS system on the plane could have been malfunctioning, the UAV may have been damaged by cartel gunfire, or there may have been structural problems with the UAV.

The last 3 of these possibilities could have been answered by an NTSB examination of the UAV/wreckage. I thought that ANY crash on US soil must be investigated. I guess not.

There is another possibility … The Mexican military may have been conducting a recon mission for the cartels, to determine the best route to smuggle drugs. We have not been told if the drone was armed, though with a payload of only 3.3 pounds, it couldn’t have been too heavily armed. The office of our Congressman was not even notified of the incident till Thursday. I’m not a conspiracy theorist … but this all seems a little fishy.

Orbiter Mini UAV specifications:
Max Ceiling – 2000 feet
Max Speed - 70 knots
Max Altitude – 18000 feet
Max Payload – 3.3 pounds
Endurance - 3 to 4 hours

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This Is So Tragic ... Some Prayers Please

Army Specialist John Austin Johnson, assigned to the 4/1 Cav out of Ft Bliss was recuperating at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, TX from a traumatic brain injury sustained during combat operations in Iraq. The Specialist was on his second tour of duty in Iraq, and had survived 4 IED attacks, the 5th one caused these injuries. Do to the injuries, Johnson now speaks with a severe stutter.

On October 13th, Spec Johnson was waiting for his wife and three kids to visit him. That visit never came. Instead he was informed that his wife had rolled the family SUV about half-way between El Paso and San Antonio, and 2-yr old Logan and 5-yr old Ashley were dead. His son Tyler, 9 yrs old, suffered traumatic head injuries and currently remains on life support at Children's Medical Center in Dallas. His wife, Lisa escaped with only minor injuries.

In the midst of this tragedy, once again the American Public has stepped up. An anonymous don0r bought the family five burial plots in the veterans section of Pinecrest Memorial Park in Benton, Ark., where Specialist Johnson's grandfather is buried. Another donor provided grave markers for the two children. American Airlines is providing seven round-trip tickets to the family to go to the funeral, and other groups and his unit are helping with other family expenses.

Please join me and my family in praying for the Johnson family, in the recovery of their oldest boy and for their emotional and spiritual recovery in the face of this tragedy.

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